Based on the study’s analysis, the following findings were established:
Poverty within the family has engendered children’s involvement in insurgency;
Illiteracy/a lack of primary and secondary education increases children’s vulnerability and restiveness;
An increased unemployment rate and inadequate job creation cause young people to indulge in criminal activities;
Porosity/an unsecured school environment enables the abduction of children;
The use of children during insurgency affects the human capital resources needed for sustainable development;
A lack of child-centered development projects gives rise to children’s involvement in anti-social activities; and
Poor governance and citizens’ disenchantment breeds’ criminality.
It is important to note that despite the unavailability of accurate figures of child insurgents in Boko Haram terrorist attacks in the aforementioned countries in the sub-region, the study reveals that young boys and girls are physically involved in suicide bombings and other destructive activities. It is a demonstration of the fact that children are still perpetually involved in armed conflicts, including insurgency across West Africa, despite
all the measures stipulated by concerned agencies to protect children. Children under the age of eighteen have been forcibly conscripted into fighting forces, especially as suicide bombers in the three West African states. Some are raped or gang-raped, while others are coerced into ‘forced marriage’ as they served as ‘bush wives’. Children’s participation in insurgency and in any form of armed conflict is a regress for both the children and government. Their involvement in conflict has health, mental/psychological, socio- economic and political repercussions. The years of rape have introduced the girl-children to sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/Aids. The trauma associated with rape and being an ex-fighter impairs social relationships within the society. Ex-fighters face the problem of societal acceptability. Children and young people are stigmatised and rejected by their peers and even the larger society. It is instructive to note that these children have been denied the right to contribute meaningfully to the growth of their communities, and the sustainable development of their countries. Suffice to say that children’s involvement in conflict impacts negatively on the development goal of nations, in that even though they constitute a viable human resource capital and workforce, they have been cut off.
Conclusion
The history of children’s involvement in armed conflict, demonstration or insurgency in West Africa and Africa in general is not a new phenomenon. Children have participated in a number of conflicts from the pre-colonial period to the 21st century. For example, children were fighters during the Sokoto Jihad of 1804-1808; the Somali liberation struggle in 1960; the 1964 Sudan Uprising; the resistance against British rule in Zanzibar in 1963;
the struggle against apartheid in South Africa in 1976 and 1984; the Liberian Civil War from 1989-2003; the Sierra Leone Civil War from 1991-2002; and the Lord’s Resistance Army Insurgency in Uganda between 2000 and 2003.
Children’s participation in the Boko Haram insurgency in West Africa started in 2014.
Although about 2 000 women and children, both boys and girls, have been abducted since 2012, the use of child insurgents, bombers or killers began in 2014. The abduction or forceful recruitment and the use of children for destructive activities by the Boko Haram Terrorist Group have serious security implications for Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad and even the children. The periods of brutal and destructive activities indoctrinate children into a culture of aggression and a cycle of violence. Children’s education is affected and this reduces societies’ human and economic development potential.
To halt or help prevent the involvement of children in insurgency and other forms of armed conflicts, governments’ policies should accommodate a robust welfare package for children and their parents. To start with, governments should institute measures to
ameliorate poverty, such as the creation and even distribution of jobs in each country.
There is a need for a compulsory and free primary and secondary education. Security alertness and sensitivity is quintessential in the fight against the use of children in insurgency. Governments should beef up security operations within each region, provide sophisticated weapons for security operatives, and be responsive in the wake of distress calls from school heads. The need for children-centered development projects across the various states is imperative. This entails a children empowerment scheme, which promotes skills acquisition, an inculcation of positive and progressive orientation towards development, and a bi-annual children summit to help chart a course for a better child.
Above all, both the state and federal governments should sincerely pursue democratic principles and good governance.
The governments of Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad should be proactive in their quest to protect and prevent the use of children during conflict. The various governments should sincerely uphold integrated diplomacy in the fight against Boko Haram terrorism. In conflict-prone regions, a heavily armed security task force should be deployed to secure schools, market areas and other crowded areas where children are found. Finally, there is a need for children empowerment in the following areas: more attention to formal education, vocational training, enlightenment training on how to escape abduction or forced recruitment, and lastly, government should provide alternatives to soldiering to demobilised children, so as to prevent the re-recruitment of this group into fighting forces.
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Guide for Authors
The African Journal of Governance and Development is a multidisciplinary publication that seeks to bring academic researchers from beyond territorial and regional boundaries to share scientific knowledge focused at the intersection of governance and development.
The journal aims at providing space for sharing and debating issues of social, political and economic development not only for academic consumption, but also for policy consideration. The journal is published on a biannual basis and is peer reviewed.
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& C. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pp.
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Referencing other sources A book with only
one author
Rose, L. (1977). Crime and punishment.
London: Batsford.
A book by two authors
Gordon, E.W., & Rourke, A. (1966).
Compensatory education for the disadvantaged. New York: College Entrance Examination Board.
In order to avoid possible communication problems all procedures should be explained to the patient (Gardner &
Sheldon, 1967, p. 40)… Gardner and Sheldon (1967, p. 40)
When quoting a book with two authors in the text, use the word ‘and’
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Referencing other sources (continued)
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Meyer, B.S., Anderson, D.P., Bohning, R.H., & Fratanna, D.G., Jr. (1973).
Introduction to plant physiology. New York: Van Nostrand.
…the traditionalist personality (Riesman, Denney & Glazer,
1968, p. 40) restrains him from doing…
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Johnson (1994a, p. 48) discussed the subject… In his later works (Johnson, 1994b, p. 56) he argued… Johnson, P.D. (1994a). Pedagogy. London:
Routledge.
Johnson, P.D. (1994b). Advanced Pedagogy. London:
Routledge.
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When you refer to publications by different authors with the same surname, use their initials in the reference.
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…it had long been evident that the intellectual potential of the Afrikaners on the Witwatersrand was under utilised
(Rand Afrikaans University,1976, p. 48)…
…thus the Rand Afrikaans University (1963, p. 30) concluded that… Rand Afrikaans University (1970). The new university: A practical guideline.
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Driver, E., & Broisen, A. (Eds. ). (1989).
Child sexual abuse.
Basingstoke, UK: MacMillan Education Ltd.
Strunk, W. (Ed.). (1976). Adult learning.
New York:
MacMillan.
A chapter in a book (not edited)
Capra, F. (1983). The systems view of life.
In The turning point: science, society and the rising culture (pp. 376-399).
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(1980). Contemporary issues and new directions in adult development of learning and memory. In L.W. Poon (Ed. ), Aging in the 1980’s: Psychological issues, (pp. 239-252).
Washington: American Psychological Association.
Shirom, A. (1989). Burnout in work organisations. In C. L. Cooper & I.T.
Robertson (Eds.), International review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Vol. IV (pp.
25-49). New York: Wiley.
Anonymous work A recent article (Anonymous, 1993) stated that… In the case of articles in newspapers or magazines where no author is named, the title is used instead of the author.
A recent article (War over, 1991) stated that…
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The Star, p. 1.
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Spyridakis, A. (1987). E historia tis Helladas [A history of Greece]. Athens:
Therios ita Iona.
Translated works Luria, A.R. (1968). The mind of a mnemonist: A little book about a vast memory. (L. Solotaroff, Trans.). New York:
Basic Books. (Original work published 1967).
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A recent study (Luria, 1967/1968).
Second, further or revised editions
Dyson, G.G.H. (1977). The mechanics of athletics. (7th edn.).
New York: Homes and Meier.
Cohen, J. (1977). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (Rev.
edn.). New York: Academic Press.
Date of publication unknown
Wolverton, H. (n.d.). The geological structure of the Black Hills. Wilmington:
Prairie Press.
Dictionaries The concise Macquarie dictionary. (1982).
New South Wales: Lane Cove.
Nguyen, D.H. (1966). Vietnamese-English dictionary.
Rutland Vermont: Charles Tuttle Company.
Sadie, S. (Ed. ). (1980). The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians (6th edn, Vols. 1-20). London:
MacMillan.
Encyclopedia Bergmann, P.G. (1993). Relativity. In The new
Encyclopaedia Brittanica (Vol. 26, pp.
501-508). Chicago:
Encyclopaedia Brittanica.
If an entry has no byline, place the title in the author position.
Personal communication
According to T.K. Lutes (personal communication, April 18, 2001)…
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communications may be letters, memos, some electronic communication (e. g., email or messages from non-archived discussion groups or electronic bulletin boards), personal interviews, telephone
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communications are not included in the
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communications in text only. Give the initials as well as the surname of the communicator, and provide as exact a date as possible.
Unpublished manuscript submitted for publication
Jordan, B. (1989). Psychology of adolescent parents. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Unpublished manuscript not submitted for publication
Ryder, M. (1987). Wonder woman: An Amazon legacy. Unpublished manuscript.
Newspaper article Lamb, J. (1970, 20 October). The perfect plants for lazy gardeners. Weekend Australian, p. 3.
Periodical article Phillips, E. (1985). The Australian scene.
Australian Journal of Ecology, 3(2), 25-29.
If a journal or newsletter does not use volume numbers, include the month, season, or other designation with the year, for example (1994, April).
Only indicate the issue number after the volume number if each issue begins on page 1.
Journal article in press
Phillips, E. (in press). The Australian scene. Australian Journal of Ecology.
In text:
Phillips (in press) or (Phillips, in press) Abstract Phillips, E. (1985). The Australian scene
[Abstract]. Australian Journal of Ecology, 3(2), 25-29.
Referencing other sources (continued) Non-English journal
article
Ising, M. (2000). Intensitätsabhängigkeit evozierter Potenzial im EEG:
Sind impulsive Personen Augmenter oder Reducer? [Intensity dependence in event related EEG potentials: Are impulsive individuals augmenters or reducers?].
Zeitschrift für Differentielle und
Diagnostische Psychologie, 21, 208-217.
Give the original title, as well as an English translation in brackets.
Published dissertation or thesis
Bevins, G.D. (1987). Theory and practice at an Australian university. Doctoral dissertation. Montreal: McGill University.